“Now don’t get me wrong I love my tattoos, yes they may not be the most original and they definitely show I was a teenager in the late 90’s but they remind me of a time when I was carefree and could never imagine growing old. Having worked very briefly in a tattoo parlor I know I got of very luckily with my unimaginative symbols and dare I say it tramp stamp. I’m quite envious of people who just go all out and get full sleeves, neck pieces and generally go to town with the ink. If the body is a temple, why not decorate it.

As much as I love tattoos some of my family don’t and can’t quite get their heads around why anybody would like them. Some companies also hold the view that tattoos are akin to a jail sentence or something so wouldn’t think of employing someone with visible tattoos. I once had a boss who told me they thought they were tacky, I said the same thing about personalised number plates knowing full well he had paid quite a bit for his. Whatever the reason, sometimes you might need to cover them up and failing a full body suit that’s not always possible. Lucky then that Tattoo Secrets has created a handy travel kit containing all you need to hide your ink.

Now you see it

There are two pots of neutralising concealer in Apricot and Ivory that you build up in layers to block the tattoo out. I needed to mix the colours together to get the right shade, which also helps warm the mixture to the right consistency to brush over the area you are working on. Once the tattoo has been obscured you dust it with a little finishing powder and leave to dry for a while. I was only able to let it dry for 10 mins but I think the longer the better. The next step is to find a shade that most matches your natural skin tone out of the three pots of finishing colours. Again I needed to mix up the colours to get the right shade and as I have had an attempt at getting a tan saw that I would need different shades for different tattoos. The one I have pictured is on my arm and has probably had the most sun in the last few weeks. To blend the colours you do need to warm them up on the back of your hand with the spatula provided and get them really creamy to brush on with the brush in the pack. After every few coats of colour you have to gently roll on the powder with the puff in the case and you alos get a little brush to dust off any excess.

The reason I needed to cover my tattoo was because of a family wedding. My father still thinks they only last 4 – 5 years (it’s been way longer than that) and rather than have the same conversation again I thought it would be best to cover the one showing and talk about something else for once, surely there must be a cousin or someone who could take the heat for one family gathering. I had slightly rushed to get ready in the morning (no surprise there) but was really pleased with the results and not one person could tell that I had covered it up. My sister was the only person who realised it wasn’t there any more and thought I had had it removed. It lasted all day on what turned out to be a really hot day, I was slightly worried that it would rub off or transfer onto someones suit jacket or worse onto the brides dress when it came time for dancing. By the end of the night though it was still completely covered, in fact when I woke up the next morning having not washed it off before I went to bed you still couldn’t see the tattoo beneath.”